Administration

Flower Festival 2015

Welcome to our Flower Festival, which uses flower displays to signify aspects of the story of our congregation: individuals who have played an important role, events that have shaped us, relationships which have been significant.

As Christians, we believe that the beauty of the flowers, the dignity of the church building, the history that is recorded in the displays and the welcome that you are given, all point to the God who is known in Jesus Christ as grace and love. Our congregation exists to witness to this God and as a reminder that the final purpose of human life is to commune with God. If you would like to know more about the Christian faith or about our activities as a church please take a moment to fill in the insert and deposit it in the plates by the doors.

Guide to the Displays

Front Door and Foyer: as you came in through the front door you will have seen topiary trees, which represent the ‘burning bush’. This recalls the story of Moses (Exodus 3). The burning bush is a common symbol of Presbyterian churches.

In the foyer you will see a floral representation of Easter. The resurrection of Jesus is the formative moment of the Christian story.

Luke Ogle – the type of Christianity represented in our church has a long history in Berwick. One representative of this is Luke Ogle, a former vicar of Berwick Parish Church who lost his job in 1662 and was imprisoned because of his beliefs. Ogle founded a church in Bowsden, South West of Berwick and our congregation in Lowick traces links with his work there. The display, incorporating broken glass, fallen candles and prison bars, symbolises the cost of faith for Ogle. Also in the display are communion cups from Lowick and communion tokens – a kind of entry ticket for communion.

Dr John Cairns – was a key figure in the religious history of Berwick. Minister of Wallace Green Church from 1845-1876, he typically wore a top hat and carried an umbrella and gloves. The trowel in the display is that used by Cairns to lay the foundation stone of the present building in 1858.

St Andrew’s Church - two Berwick churches, associated with the Church of Scotland, the Low and High Meeting Houses came together in 1879 to form St Andrew’s Church on Greenside Ave – directly by the town walls on the North side.

Revd John Macaskill – minister of Wallace Green spent two tours of duty as an army chaplain during the First World War. Our congregation has had a long association with the armed services, which continues up until today. The display includes the colours of the KOSB, historically, the local regiment.

Music – from early days music, has played a key role in the worship of God. The display symbolises this through referencing a variety of hymns that relate to different seasons of the year. An important date in the history of Wallace Green was 1892 when the present organ, a Harrison and Harrison, was installed. The instrument cost £800 – at least £50,000 in today’s money. Since that time there have a number of fine organists, most recently Tommy Gladstone and now Rena Telfer.

St Andrew’s Wallace Green – in 1987 St Andrews and Wallace Green churches united, in part because the St Andrews building was damaged by building work nearby. The glass in the display are fragments of the St Andrews’ stained glass. The pews and pulpit from St Andrews went to Ladykirk.

Other features:

The Easter Garden in front of the Communion table has been made by the Sunday Club children; the flowers down the centre of the church represent the seasons of the year; the banner on the back wall is a collective creation of members of the congregation – young and old – symbolising what we wish to give thanks for in church and town; the banner hanging from the balcony has been specially made by the children and staff of Tweedmouth Prior Park First School and represents the arrival of Celtic Christianity to Northumberland in the person of Aidan and his monks who came to Lindisfarne; the stone font by the front door comes from Lowick and is dated 1787; the four seed collage pictures, representing the Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, were made by the Berwick Floral Art Club for a previous show in 2008.

The small print

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